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Truth reveled that why does Lord Shiva wear a snake around his neck?

February 02, 2022 , , , , ,

Why does Lord Shiva wear a snake around his neck?

why does lord shiva wears snake around his neck
why does Lord Shiva wears snake around his neck

Story behind Lord Shiva wear a snake | Lord Shiva and Snakes relations

Known to abstain from all forms of indulgence and desires through his thousands of years of penance and meditation, Lord Shiva is undoubtedly the most fascinating and the most worshipped god of the Hindus.

Lord Shiva is often depicted meditating while seated on a tiger skin, with a third eye on his forehead he adorns himself with snakes around his neck and the crescent moon on his head. From his locks of matted hair flows the holy river Ganga. Lord Shiva holds the trident in one hand and the drum in another, but why does Shiva wear a snake around his neck?

Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean of milk was organized to produce the Amrit or the nectar of immortality. Vasuki, the king of snakes was used as a rope around mount Mandar to churn the ocean. The Asuras or demons held Vasuki by the head while the Devatas or gods held by the tail, and together they were able to churn the ocean that gave birth to many gifts.

With these gifts came the Halahal, a poison that could wipe out all of creation. This terrified both the demons and gods and both sought help from Lord Shiva. Shiva known for his compassion and self-sacrifice willingly swallows the poison with no benefit of his own, but solely to save the world. The poison was so potent that it changed the color of Shiva's throat to blue, thus the common depiction of Lord Shiva's blue skin.

It is then his wife Devi Parvati, Comes to his rescue and through her maha-vidya grabs his throat to control the poison, not letting it spread throughout his body. Therefore snake Vasuki offered himself in service of Shiva and sat around his neck, not letting the poison run through his whole body. It is from this incident, he derives the name 'Neelkantha', meaning the one with the blue throat.

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